The days at Hogwarts

Dumbledore suddenly turned his head and raised his eyebrows exaggeratedly: "Don't underestimate the charm of those interesting plants. This is not just a comforting remark. At least there are many students in Gryffindor who like to tend to herbs."

Professor McGonagall reached out and patted her shoulder: "There are even more little wizards like this in Hufflepuff House!"

My colleagues at Hogwarts are so nice. Professor Sprout couldn't help but smile:

"Oh, I'll think about it. But for now I can take care of the greenhouse by myself, and maybe I'll start an Herbology Club when I feel I need help."

The atmosphere at the table was harmonious and each club had a bright future.

While some were laughing, naturally some were sad. Lockhart was thinking about his Defense Against the Dark Arts club, which had not yet appeared, and he felt anxious. His lifeless eyes moved among the young wizards in the audience.

Trelawney, who was sitting on the edge, filled her glass of sherry again and drank it all in one gulp.

Why didn't anyone persuade her to open a fortune-telling club?

Isn’t there any little wizard who likes divination?

Prophecy is an indispensable part of magic!

Tun, tun, tun. The wine goes down my throat and makes my heart ache.

Over the next two days, the invitation to the Potions Club sparked widespread discussion among the young wizards.

As potion making is a popular profession, some young wizards dream of joining the Potions Club, learning the skills of preparing potions, and becoming decent pharmacists after graduation. Now, their hopes are dashed, and only some students who receive invitation letters can join the club, and the invitation letters are sent directly by Snape.

Many young wizards feel resentful about this non-public and non-transparent selection method.

"What are the criteria for issuing invitations? Is there a limit on the number of people? Why can't we apply proactively?"

"We must oppose this unfair selection method! We must oppose the shady dealings!"

Two red-haired students from Ravenclaw who wished to remain anonymous fanned the flames.

George and Fred had not received an invitation, nor did they have any intention of joining the Potions Club. They said these words just to watch the fun.

In Ron's words: "Just think about it, this is the old bat's excitement, it's really exciting!"

The words of the fun-loving person caused some waves.

One day, several students gathered together and blocked the entrance of the auditorium with solemn expressions, like warriors who were about to be burned to death for fairness and freedom.

There were more little wizards watching the fun around. George and Fred were in the crowd, looking at these people with sparkling eyes and expectations of something happening on their faces.

This was the scene that Loren and his group, who had just finished class, saw. Ron immediately saw his two brothers, his eyes lit up, and he pushed through the crowd to squeeze in, and quickly squeezed out.

Ron excitedly relayed what he had learned: "They are going to question Snape here and protest to him!"

Seamus and Dean perked up: "Cool!"

Loren and the others didn't want to leave either. They stayed outside the auditorium to watch the excitement even if they were hungry.

Soon, Snape, wearing a green robe, approached with an expressionless face, and the little wizards in the corridor instantly fell silent. Snape walked with the wind, and his long-collared wizard robe made a rustling sound. When he passed by the little wizards who were about to protest, he glanced at them with a sharp look.

The warriors who were ready to die suddenly became afraid to die, and became like little quails, not daring to say a word, allowing Snape to enter the hall smoothly.

The group of people watching the fun couldn't help but burst into laughter. It was too funny that they prepared for a long time, but were frightened by Snape's glance.

The farce was just a farce and did not cause any waves in the busy school.

The time for the Potions Club event was approaching. The day before the event, Loren was taken to Snape's office to do some preparations.

Take the herbs out of the storage box, untie the ropes, and pack them into boxes. This mechanical work is not tiring, but a bit boring.

The bundled herbs were thrown into the box, the knot was untied and the rope was pulled out, followed by the next bundle.

Loren twisted the dried grass leaves and recognized the herb by observing the veins on the leaves.

He turned his head to look at Snape: "Rue? This common herb is used to make rue essence, right? What do you plan to use it for?"

Rue is a mild tonic, often used by weak people to give them a little warmth and strength, just like glucose.

However, the preparation process is very complicated. Pick the two leaves in the middle of the rhizome, use the rest to extract the juice, and then put the leaves into the grass juice extracted from rue to boil.

This is a basic and commonly used potion. Because it is time-consuming and labor-intensive to make, it can be sold at a higher price.

Snape raised his head from his desk and said, "For tomorrow's club activities, the second-year students will be responsible for picking grass leaves, the third-year students will be responsible for soaking the grass juice, and the senior students will be responsible for brewing rue essence."

Loren looked up in surprise: "These tasks are too simple, right?"

What he actually meant was dull and boring.

These tasks are for the newly enrolled wizards. They can learn and master them after doing them a few times. The students who received the invitation letters are all students with excellent grades in potions. It is really a waste of their talents to do these tasks.

"The preparation process of Rue Essence is simple and easy to learn. The price is a bit expensive, so it is the most suitable potion for your first business."

Seeing Loren was stunned, Snape explained, "If Hogwarts wants to completely break away from the control of the Board of Directors, it needs to have its own funds and income. It's just that we need to use this method to start it in the early stage, and we won't need you later."

"B-But... I thought the Potions Club was researching resurrection potions."

"I have my own arrangements regarding the resurrection medicine."

……

Basement, Potions classroom.

The first meeting of the Potions Club took place here, in the familiar classroom where they brewed potions. There were no candles lit, but the dim light coming in from the skylight kept the dark underground classroom from falling into complete darkness.

The little wizards in the audience gathered together and listened quietly to Professor Snape's story. Just like their first class after they entered school, Professor Snape also said something similar.

Loren, Hermione, Harry, Rolf and Draco sat in the front, not daring to make any sound.

Snape's figure was completely hidden in the darkness, and only his occasional movements could reveal some of his outline.

"I said long ago that, personally, I don't expect some of you to be able to grasp the techniques and mysteries of Potions."

"Some mediocre people think that I am arbitrary and that the way I distribute invitations is not objective enough. But please believe me, there is only one reason why they did not receive invitations, and that is their lack of talent in potions. Of course, maybe it is because they did not show their talent in front of me." Snape spoke slowly, with sarcasm in his words.

The familiar way of speaking reminded Harry of his first potions class, and he had a bad feeling. Looking around and comparing himself with the people around him, Harry felt that he also lacked talent for potions.

Snape paced back and forth on the podium, his shadow lengthening. "Even among you here, most of you would just follow the textbook and put the herbs in step by step, rigidly holding the textbook in one hand and stirring the crucible with the other."

Suddenly, a certain unknown know-it-all lady felt like she was being targeted.

"As for those who want to make potions their living—" Snape sneered, "I hope you won't give up this naive idea."

He held the wand in his hand and raised it lightly. The candlesticks on both sides of the wall lit up, illuminating the dark underground potion classroom.

The group of young wizards then discovered that there were boxes of rue in front of the podium.

Snape assigned tasks to the young wizards of each grade, demonstrated the process of making rue essence, and then left.

"Go, go?"

The young wizard in the senior grade was a little dumbfounded.

They thought they could learn some advanced knowledge of potions in the Potions Club, but the result was low-level rue essence? Now Snape just left, and they couldn't accept it for a while.

Loren looked around and found that in addition to two acquaintances, Rolf and Draco, a second-year student named Michael Corner also received an invitation.

Connor is a wizard from Ravenclaw, with long black hair covering most of his head and a blank look in his eyes. He also doesn't understand Professor Snape's actions.

Loren held out his hand to him: "Meet me, I'm Loren Morgan."

Connor came back to his senses and quickly shook hands and responded, "Hello, Michael Connor, Ravenclaw."

Harry, Hermione, Rolf, and Draco introduced themselves to each other. At Loren's invitation, they began to pick the leaves of rue. Under their leadership, the young wizards of other grades started their work one after another.

The second grade picked grass leaves, the third grade soaked the grass juice, and the remaining senior wizards gathered around the crucible to boil rue essence.

"The seven hundredth blade of grass, the seven hundred and first blade of grass, the seven hundredth..." Harry counted and became irritable. He said angrily, "What kind of Potions Club is this? The old bat is here to torture us. What can we learn from this?"

Draco glanced at him, with sarcastic words on the tip of his tongue, but suddenly he remembered something and stopped talking in time. He sneered and went back to picking leaves.

Rolf was not impatient at all, and even seemed a little relaxed: "Some seniors want to choose potions as a career. Professor Snape's current arrangement is to dispel their ideas."

This attracted the attention of several people around. Hermione's eyes turned and revealed a look of understanding. Connor and Draco looked at Rolf in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"If they take potion making as their profession, their work will be just like now. They will keep preparing the same potion over and over again. As an apprentice, they can only keep repeating one of the steps like now."

Rolf did not slow down his work while speaking: "If they can't stand it now, how can they make potion making a lifelong career? They don't like making potions, they just like the respectability of the potion master."

Several people turned to look at the seniors who were in charge of the work in the back. Some of them sat in their seats and did their own things peacefully, while some were already getting impatient and could not sit still as if there were nails on the stools. They twisted their limbs and looked around.

Loren smacked his lips, confused.

Did Snape actually have this intention?

Why does he feel that this is exploitation of their labor?

……

Before we knew it, it was October.

The spell practice craze started by Professor Flitwick has subsided a lot, mainly because the temperature has dropped. The damp cold is hidden in the wind. The little wizards who practiced spells by the Black Lake caught colds one after another, and also infected the people in the castle, making the school doctor Madam Pomfrey very busy.

There are often little wizards running around in the corridor with white smoke coming out of their ears. That is the side effect of the refreshing potion used to treat colds. People who drink this potion will have smoke coming out of their ears for several hours.

The raindrops were as dense as bullets, hitting the castle, the glass, the forbidden forest, and everything in front of them. It had been raining for several days, and a misty fog rose in the wilderness, covering the mountains and the forbidden forest.

On the steps of the first-floor courtyard, the little wizards sat listening to the rain, chatting and playing.

"How's your spell practice going?" Seamus poked Neville's Leford. Leford jumped every time he poked it. In such humid weather, Leford was in a good mood.

"I've become much more proficient, but other things seem to have remained the same. I don't even want to practice anymore." Dean said. Most young wizards have similar ideas. It's a long time for them to be able to maintain their enthusiasm for three minutes until now.

"I heard that the senior wizards in the Charms Club are studying ancient magic. I really want to know how powerful the ancient explosive spell is?" Seamus said enviously. He had not yet learned the explosive spell.

When Hermione heard about ancient magic, she also showed a yearning look. She complained to Loren in a low voice: "I shouldn't have rejected Professor Flitwick at that time. Then we could also learn ancient magic."

The Transfiguration Club exam results she was looking forward to hadn't been released yet, let alone the activities. The little witch even had some resentment towards Professor McGonagall, and she kept complaining to Loren.

"Then go talk to Professor Flitwick. He will definitely not refuse you." Loren said with a smile.

Hermione remained silent. Although she had a small grudge against Professor McGonagall, she was her favorite professor.

"Hey, George gave me a good thing." Ron ran over with a bottle of potion, showing off excitedly, "A refreshing potion that can make your ears smoke like a train!"

Ever since everyone thought that smoke coming out of the ears was a cool thing, the refresher in the school infirmary has suffered. At first, people pretended to be sick to get the refresher, and later someone deliberately caught a cold in the rain for the refresher. Madam Pomfrey was very angry, and the refresher never left the school infirmary again.

Feeling that everyone was looking at him, Ron downed the potion in one gulp, waiting expectantly for the effect to take effect.

His ears did not respond, and black stripes appeared on his skin, black and white, like a zebra.

The crowd erupted in loud laughter.

Harry, Loren and Hermione turned their heads away, not wanting to look at him. They didn't laugh out loud, but just shrugged their shoulders violently.

Ron's skin changed from black and white to an angry black and red. He screamed "Ah-ah-ah" and went to find George and Fred to die together.

"It seems he forgot that he can't eat anything from George and Fred," Harry laughed.

Chapter 184 Animagus Teaching Class

The Transfiguration Club that Hermione had been looking forward to for a long time soon issued an announcement, and the list of recruited young wizards was posted on the bulletin board in the common room. The long list of names surprised many people.

"Neville Longbottom..."

Neville read the name on the notice board and felt that his name was unfamiliar. Then he was overwhelmed by ecstasy. He held Seamus with one hand and Dean with the other, and used their shoulders to bounce happily. "I passed! I passed!"

"Neville has entered the Transfiguration Club and wants to turn us into meat patties first!" Seamus and Dean shouted funny, and they ran away in a hurry with their hands raised high.

Hermione tugged at Loren's sleeve, staring excitedly at their names in the bulletin, and both passed.

"You're not going to support me by jumping like Neville did, are you? I can't bear it." Loren twisted her hand away.

She couldn't help but pat him on the arm, but Hermione was in a good mood and didn't care much about it.

As expected, Harry and Ron also passed the exam.

The Transfiguration Club's first activity took place in the Transfiguration classroom. A group of people arrived at the classroom early, chose good seats in the front row and sat down, waiting for the classroom to be filled up gradually.

Ron muttered, "Why are club activities just like regular classes? The novelty has worn off."

"Of course it feels new. We give ourselves extra lessons by taking exams," Loren said with a smile.

"Stop talking. If you continue, I won't want to attend class anymore."

Gradually, every seat was occupied by a little wizard, with the younger students sitting in the front rows and the older students in the back.

Not many people.Transfiguration is the most difficult subject, and there are many young wizards who learn it to death in ordinary classes. They don't want to suffer this again in extracurricular clubs.

There is a typical spell in Transfiguration, which is to transform a mouse into a goblet. The difficulty of this magic is not only to transform a living thing into a dead thing, but also to transform all the mouse hair all over the body into a smooth glass surface. Young wizards often transform a furry goblet, and how to reduce the remaining mouse hair is a problem that every young wizard has to face.

There is an interesting story circulating among Hufflepuffs: